CNN's John King and other top political reporters empty out their notebooks each Sunday on "Inside Politics" to reveal five things that will be in the headlines in the days, weeks and months ahead.

While much of political Washington was recovering from “prom night” – the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner – our ‘Inside Politics’ family was up early to get you ahead of the big political stories to come.

(CNN) – The political horse race between Sen. Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes takes on a different meaning Saturday, as the Senate candidates picked different favorites for the Kentucky Derby.

McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and Senate Minority Leader, picked "Ride on Curlin," according to his campaign.

(CNN) - New polls in four southern states that could determine whether the Democrats keep control of the Senate in this November's midterm elections indicate close contests.

And according to the New York Times Upshot/Kaiser Family Foundation surveys, released Wednesday, President Barack Obama's approval ratings are in the low 30's in two of those states and hovering at or just above the 40% mark in the other two states. Republicans are trying to frame the midterm contests as a referendum on the President and on his federal health care law, better known as Obamacare.

(CNN) - Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes out raised Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell during the first three months of this year, but the five-term senator still holds a more than two-to-one advantage over his Democratic challenger when it comes to money in the bank.

The Senate battle in the Bluegrass State could turn into the most expensive and most bitter contest this year.

(CNN) - Mitch McConnell's conservative primary challenger is hoping to score some points off of a highly publicized mistake by the Senate Minority Leader's re-election team.

Louisville businessman Matt Bevin, hoping to boost his underdog challenge against McConnell in Kentucky's May Republican primary, is going up with a TV commercial Friday that pokes fun at web video released earlier this week by the senator's campaign that included a clip of a team wearing blue uniforms celebrating a national championship in men's basketball. The major problem was that the team wasn't the Kentucky Wildcats, but instead the Duke University Blue Devils. There's little love among Kentucky college basketball fans for the powerhouse Atlantic Coast Conference school from North Carolina.

Take a quick trip Inside Politics and see the stories setting the stage in Washington today:

Obama vs. Romney ... and Putin – A tough question for President Obama on Romney, Russia and Putin. Obama is a master of the long–winded sidestep - guarded, professorial and often dismissive answers to questions from reporters.

Mitch McConnell came strapped to the Conservative Political Action Conference this week.

The Senate minority leader, 72, held his rifle mightily overhead before presenting it to his pal, Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, as part of the NRA Courage Under Fire lifetime achievement award.